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13 Mistakes Fibromyalgia Patients Make

Health A-Z

Dealing with the constant, daily pain of fibromyalgia can be tough. But the task can be even tougher if you fall into some common traps. Learn how to avoid mistakes that can make it even harder to cope with fibromyalgia.

Not tracking your pain

"The problem with fibromyalgia is that patients are always in pain so it's hard to judge when things get better and when they don’t get better," says Bruce Baethge, MD, a rheumatologist with Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine and Scott & White Healthcare, in Temple.

Keeping a pain diary can help you keep track of the ebbs and flows of your fibromyalgia.

And if you know when things are better, you can also figure out what made them better and what to do next time.

Denying that you’re sick

Many patients diagnosed with fibromyalgia will visit one physician after another trying to find a different opinion.

By all means, get a second opinion. But refusing to accept the diagnosis after a second, third, or fourth opinion means you’re losing precious time, which could be spent learning about and managing the condition.

Dr. Baethge recommends reading all you can about fibromyalgia. "Education is key," he says.

Not enlisting family support

Ask for the support of your spouse, parents, siblings, and children, but do it with open eyes.

"Family interaction can be good or bad. It depends on how understanding the family is," Dr. Baethge says. "A lot of times people get upset because their spouse or family doesn’t understand what they’re going through."

Not moving because it hurts too much

"Yoga, swimming, and walking have all been shown to be of benefit in managing chronic pain, and it’s really important for fibromyalgia," Dr. Baethge says. "It’s hard to get people to buy into this because when they first try it, they hurt even more."

Some people even forgo medication and try to get by on exercise alone to help with pain. “They tend to do pretty well,” Dr. Baethge says. "They’re high functioning."